7th May 2011

Man United v Chelsea Betting: On Fire Blues Have What It Takes To Silence Old Trafford

This is match 36 of 38, and it could be the one that almost certainly decides the outcome of this season’s Premier League. A win for Man United would surely bring about a record breaking 19th league title, but a home defeat could spell disaster. Although their away form has been poor, and that’s where a post mortem will surely start if things go belly up, the Reds have been nigh on untouchable at Old Trafford this season, winning 16 of their 17 games, dropping points only to West Brom in a 2-2 draw way back in the middle of last October. United easily negotiated their Champions League second leg against Schalke in midweek to set up a mouth watering Wembley final against Barcelona at the end of the month, and it was done without Nemanja Vidic, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Rio Ferdinand but the quartet should be reinstalled to Sunday’s starting line up. Patrice Evra should shake off a slight injury and Darren Fletcher could continue his comeback after recently shaking off a nasty virus

At the height of Chelsea’s slump just over two months ago, they were 15 points adrift of Man United, and Arsenal looked to be the only danger to United’s dominance, but United’s 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge in the first league meeting this season in March turned out to be a catalyst to a Cheslea revival. While United have continued to encounter problems on the road, Chelsea have not looked back since, taking a whopping 25 points from 27 available. Carlo Ancelotti has the luxury of a fully fit squad to select from, but his only headache is who will form Chelsea’s strike partnership, with Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, Salomon Kalou or Nicolas Anelka all vying for a place.

A little over a month ago United looked to be strolling towards the title, mainly due to the chasing pack making a mess of their challenges, but thanks to a Chelsea recovery we can look forward to a dramatic end to the campaign. United are immense at Old Trafford, but it must be slightly unnerving for them that Chelsea were the last team to win at Old Trafford back in April 2010, which also turned out to be a pivotal result in the title race that sent Chelsea above United to the top of the Premier League. The momentum is definitely with Chelsea, but we’ve seen United deliver some good away defensive performances in the Champions League this season and as a point will be a good result, we might see a more conservative approach by United on Sunday. Chelsea know how to win at Old Trafford though and there’s no way they’ll fold like some teams do when playing there. Back the Blues to prevail!